An Uber driver has admitted to his involvement in a shooting spree in western Michigan on Saturday that left six people dead and two wounded, the county prosecutor said.

Kalamazoo County resident Jason Dalton was charged with six counts of murder and two counts of assault with intent to murder, and was being held without bail the prosecutor, Jeffrey Getting, said on Monday.

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Appearing stone-faced, wearing black glasses and an orange jumpsuit, Dalton was emotionless during his video arraignment on Monday.

Dalton said only a few words during the 10-minute meeting. Asked by the Kalamazoo County district judge Christopher Haenicke whether he wished to speak before the issue of bond was settled, Dalton said: “I would prefer just to remain silent.”

Police are still trying to piece together the timeline behind a shooting spree that gripped the Kalamazoo area for several hours on Saturday. In a statement announcing the 16-count felony complaint, Getting said the investigation into what sparked the rampage continues.

“The Kalamazoo community is reeling from these senseless acts of violence that took so many innocent lives,” Getting said, “and our hearts are saddened for all of the victims, their families and friends who are dealing with this on a much more personal level.”

“He had picked up several people during the course of that evening, outside of the time he was shooting,” Getting said.

Detective first lieutenant Chuck Christensen of the Michigan state police said Dalton was interrogated twice on Sunday – once in the morning with Kalamazoo city detectives, the other and again in the afternoon with state officers. Christensen and Getting declined to comment on the substance of the statement given to police by Dalton, but the prosecutor said he admitted his involvement in the killings after being read his Miranda rights.

Following the hearing on Monday, Dalton’s family broke their silence in a statement that said “no words” could express their disbelief at the situation. The family requested any comments be directed to Kalamazoo-based lawyers Paul Vlachos and Brian Weiss. The two lawyers could not be reached for comment Monday night.

“Our hope is for peace and healing for the victims, the families of the victims, the Kalamazoo community and those touched by these events throughout the nation,” the statement said. “This type of violence has no place in our society, and we express our love and support for everyone involved. We intend to cooperate in every way that we can to help determine why and how this occurred”.

On Monday, Barack Obama praised local law enforcement for apprehending Dalton so quickly, and offered federal support to the mayor and sheriff in their investigation.

“Earlier this year, I took some steps that will make it harder for dangerous people like this individual to buy a gun. But clearly, we’re going to need to do more if we’re going to keep innocent Americans safe,” Obama told the National Governors Association at the White House.

Dalton – a 45-year-old father of two with no known criminal record – was arrested at 12.40am at a traffic stop, where police recovered a weapon from his vehicle. After the hearing, Getting disclosed that the weapon was a 9mm semi-automatic handgun.

The shootings, all of which took place in parking lots across Kalamazoo county, began around 6pm on Saturday. A woman who police believe was babysitting several children was shot multiple times outside the Meadow Townhomes residential complex, located north-east of Kalamazoo. The woman remained in serious condition on Sunday.

More than four hours later, two people – Tyler Smith, 17, and his father, Richard Smith, 53 – were killed near a Kia car dealership. The teenager’s girlfriend witnessed the incident while sitting in a vehicle, police said Monday, as the pair looked at cars on the car dealer’s lot.

Nearly 15 minutes later, around 10.15pm, police responded to a shooting in the parking lot of a nearby Cracker Barrel restaurant, where four women were killed and a 14-year-old girl was injured after being shot in the head once. Police identified the dead as: Mary Lou Nye, 62; Mary Jo Nye, 60; Dorothy Brown, 74; and Barbara Hawthorne, 68. The girl was in surgery on Sunday, and Michigan state police said the procedure went “pretty well”.

Police said more than 30 shell casings were recovered at the shooting scenes. Asked about the number of casings in relation to the number of victims struck, Christensen said: “What that tells me is: this is a person that was adept at shooting and very accurate in doing so. As far as vulnerability, if it was me there, and I’m armed, there’s no way I could react with how things happened.” Dalton appears to have fired within close range, he added.

Earlier Sunday, police searched Dalton’s home for over four hours. Kalamazoo department of public safety chief Jeff Hadley told reporters that police were searching for a computer, hard drive, or additional weapons. Neighbors told reporters that Dalton had purchased a gun during the last couple of years and would occasionally shoot it at random outside his house, located along a two-way road in nearby Cooper Township.

Getting couldn’t say whether the gun used in the spree was legally obtained.

Michael Arney, a local radio reporter who said he had attended Comstock high school in Kalamazoo with Dalton, was at the home Sunday afternoon and, similar to nearby neighbors, expressed disbelief.

“I’m just as shocked as anyone else right now,” Arney said. “I’m trying to wrap my head around it.”